Basic Trope: Two women (or teenage girls) are set up like they're lesbians, but they're actually friends.
- Straight: In the show Alice's Adventures, Alice and Betty are always shown together, and one scene shows them holding hands, with the camera zooming in on their hands for extra significance, implying they're lesbians. Turns out, they're just best friends.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice and Betty seem to be having sex but they're not.
- Alice and Betty are seen making out, but it turns out that Alice is practicing on her best friend Betty because she has a crush on Charles but has never kissed before.
- As it turns out, Alice and Betty are sisters, meaning they couldn't possibly be attracted to each other without it being gross.
- Downplayed:
- It turns out that Alice and Betty are lesbians or bisexual but they're just not attracted to each other.
- Alice does have a crush on Betty, but that they could never be a couple since Betty is straight.
- Bait-and-Switch Discount Lesbians
- Justified:
- Alice and Betty are both Cuddle Bugs, meaning they're very affectionate and touchy-feely with everyone, even if it's not romantic.
- They are Friends with Benefits. Just because they're not dating doesn't mean they're not supposed to get down and dirty.
- Alice and Betty come from a culture where same-sex affectionate hugging and kissing are considered normal, even for non-romantic contexts.
- Inverted:
- Alice and Betty live together, but they sleep in different rooms and don't do much hugging, making it seem like they're roommates. They're actually lovers.
- Alice and Bob are seen holding hands as soft music plays... but they're Platonic Life-Partners.
- Alice and Bob often hold hands with soft music, but it turns out Alice is lesbian
- Gender Inverted: We get a closeup of Andy and Bob holding hands, but it turns out they're just best friends.
- Subverted:
- Alice and Betty are seen holding hands, but then it's revealed that both have boyfriends. However, it turns out they were bisexual all along and when the relationships with their boyfriends don't work out, they start dating each other.
- Alice and Betty are seen holding hands, but then it's revealed that both have boyfriends. However, it turns out their "boyfriends" are just made up story, and they are actually lesbian all along, and secretly date each other since the beginning of the story.
- Double Subverted:
- They come out as bisexual after the relationships with their boyfriends don't work out, but they don't start dating each other because they don't see each other that way.
- Alice and Betty role-play as lovers.
- Parodied: Whenever Alice stares at Betty's eyes, romantic music plays. Alice describes Betty in flattering terns, focusing on the buxom and hips, and betty returns the same to Alice. However, an executive kicks the door while they were having sex and tells them to be friends otherwise the studio will lose pay. The second after, they describe themselves as bestest-friends-forever and Alice hooks up with Bob, saying that she's only dating Betty for the studio's bills.
- Zig-Zagged: Alice and Betty have relationships with several men, and aren't dating, but they do get Ship Teased with each other even after it's revealed they're not dating, making them Ambiguously Bi.
- Averted:
- Alice and Betty are a lesbian couple.
- Alice and Betty are portrayed as close, but not so close that the viewers will get the wrong idea.
- Enforced:
- The creators initially wanted Alice and Betty to be lesbians, but the higher-ups said no.
- The creators wanted to make money by exploiting the fact that straight men like seeing women being affectionate, but they (or the executives) were too homophobic to put actual lesbians in the show, or they are afraid of Queer Show Ghetto.
- Status Quo says that Betty and Charles are Official Couple, but Betty's Les Yay scenes with Alice is added to receive more attention from Yuri Fan demographic.
- Lampshaded: "If anyone saw that, they might think we're dating, but we don't even swing that way!"
- Invoked: Alice and Betty are Undercover as Lovers.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: "Keep your hands to yourself, Betty! Don't want the audience getting any ideas!"
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "Either make them gay or make them friends. You can't have your cake and eat it too!"
- Implied: Alice and Betty are seen holding hands, but while they're never seen dating anyone and don't confirm their orientations, for the rest of the show they act more chummy than romantic.
- Deconstructed:
- The creators of the show get backlash due to queerbaiting, and the show loses views.
- Alice is actually a lesbian with a crush on Betty, and is hurt when Betty rejects her Love Confession by saying they are just friends with nothing going on between them.
- Alice and Betty can't find any single relationship with men, due to they assume that Alice is already in a relationship with Betty, despite they aren't
- Reconstructed:
- The creators decide to make an episode to reveal that Alice and Betty are actually lesbians, and their best-friend story was just a cover-up. The show quickly regains views.
- Alice and Betty find a happy medium, realize that their way of express their closeness isn't their fault, and they end up as Heterosexual Life-Partners.
- Played for Laughs: ???
- Played for Drama: It turns out that Alice and Betty are not holding hands out of romance, but rather because Betty has a terminal illness and Alice wanted to say goodbye to her best friend.
- Played for Horror: Alice and Betty aren't lesbians; Alice only took off Betty's scarf because she is a vampire and wants to drink Betty's blood.
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